20 Common Misconceptions About Canada

When you ask someone from ‘away’ what they think about Canada, you’ll get some surprising answers. This is especially true of our southern neighbours who really should know better. But that’s OK, it’s actually kind of funny. Here are 20 common misconceptions about our home and native land.

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1 / 20

Mounties always wear red serge and ride horses

It's true that Mounties dress in Red Serge and ride horses on special occasions, but not during regular policing duties. It would be kind of neat, though. Either way, Canada is pretty awesome.

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‘Eh?’ is an exclusively Canadian colloquialism

We do say 'eh' a lot, but so do lots of other people from other countries. You'll hear 'eh' spoken in the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey. Even America.

DON'T MISS: 50 Canadian words our American friends don't understand.

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Canada is a land of snow and ice

Most of the country sees snow and ice in the winter (except part of the BC coast), but we also have a glorious summer, not to mention fall and spring. About the only place you'll find perpetual winter is at the top of our highest mountains or way, way up north. But across the country, there are a number of stunning landscapes you won't believe are in Canada all year round.

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Milk comes only in bags

Bag milk is available in many parts of the country but so are cartons and jugs. Not only that, you can buy bag milk in Israel, the UK and Russia.

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Canada is a socialist country

Sure, we have public healthcare and some provinces offer public auto insurance but we've still got a Conservative government and free and fair elections.

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Canada doesn’t have guns

This one is way off. Canada has lots of guns. According to the 2014 Small Arms Survey, Canada ranks 13th in the world with 30.8 guns per 100 residents. The United States is #1 with 90 guns per 100 residents.

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Toronto is the capital of Canada

Given that Toronto is Canada's biggest city and financial centre, it's easy to understand why many people get this one wrong. You may get a funny look when you correct people, telling them it's Ottawa. Of course, both Toronto and Ottawa are a couple of most expensive places to live in Canada.

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Everyone speaks French

It would be nice if we did, but no. According to Statistics Canada, 67.1% of Canadians speak English and just 21.5% speak French.

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There’s wildlife everywhere

There's not much chance of seeing a moose in downtown Toronto, unless it escapes from the zoo.

You may find wildlife, though, it some of most beautiful places in Canada to see.

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10 / 20

We all play hockey

Hockey is big, but not all of us play. And hockey isn't the only popular sport in Canada. There's also baseball, soccer, football, rugby, lacrosse, curling and basketball, which was invented by a Canadian.

RELATED: 20 richest hockey players on the planet.

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We’re polite

It's nice that everyone around the world thinks we're a polite nation, but they've obviously never ridden a bus or driven in Canadian rush hour traffic.

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Healthcare is free

We don't get a bill, but we pay a lot in taxes. Not everything is covered, either. Still, it's something <a href="https://www.slice.ca/money/photos/things-canadians-pay-less-for/" rel="no-opener" target="_blank"Canadians pay less for than the US system.

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13 / 20

Canada is big

No. Canada is HUGE. We're the second largest country in the world, covering 9,984,670 sq. km. It's funny trying to explain to someone from a small nation like Malta that it takes more than 10 hours to fly coast to coast and there isn't a direct flight.

RELATED: 20 best train trips in Canada.

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14 / 20

The Queen runs the country

Queen Elizabeth II is our head of state, but the prime minister and parliament take care of the nation's business. Having a queen doesn't make us part of the UK either.

RELATED: All of the Queen's great-grandchildren and their net worth.

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We say ‘oot’ and ‘aboot’

We've got some pretty unique regional accents, but we really don't say 'oot' or 'aboot' unless we're mocking ourselves. We do, however, go out in boots.

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We hate America

Actually, politics aside, Canadians think our southern neighbour is pretty cool. So cool that we accounted for 23.4 million visits to the US in 2013. In fact, crossing the border makes for some of the best long weekend destinations from Toronto.

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We’re metric

Officially, yes. But many of us still weigh ourselves in pounds and measure our height in feet and inches. It's also quite normal to use pounds at the deli.

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It never gets hot

Actually it can get very hot in Canada. Summer temperatures in the mid-30s aren't uncommon. In 1937, it hit 45C (113F) in Midale and Yellow Grass, SK.

Some of the most beautiful Canadian cities to live in get super hot depending on the season.

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19 / 20

There are no famous Canadians

Tell that to Seth Rogan, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Nelly Furtado, Sum41, Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, Tatiana Maslany, Bryan Adams, Neil Young, Jim Carrey, Sarah McLachlan, the late Leonard Cohen and many others.

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Our money smells like maple syrup

The big rumour when the new polymer $100 bill was introduced was that the Bank of Canada had added the scent of maple syrup to the plastic notes. The Bank of Canada denies this.

In case you're wondering, these are the highest paying in-demand jobs in Canada so you can get lots of unscented bills.